Avoid potty-training pitfalls

1:32 PM,
Jul. 1, 2013

Written by

Robert Preidt
HealthDay

Incorrectly toilet training children can lead to problems ranging from bed-wetting and daytime accidents to urinary tract infections, so it's important to get it right, an expert says.

There are a number of common mistakes that parents make when toilet training their children, said Dr. Steve Hodges, a pediatric urology specialist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. Training too early is one mistake. Children younger than 3 don't have the mental maturity to make good toileting decisions.

"They don't understand how essential it is to get themselves to a bathroom ...